The proposal to support the slum, or the brasilian favela, is a linear urban farm model intended to largely self-sustain local food necessity by creating agricultural space on available unused surfaces and air. The project’s intention is to design a system which is reactive to and has little physical impact on the existing ultra-high density favela, while providing an organic presence in the community. The system would be built following the existing structural syntax of the immediate area, and run by the faveladores with local NGO’s.

The system logic is primarily concerned with introducing a responsive network of infrastructural connections with agricultural production which extends throughout the neighborhood of Grotao. The system’s nascency is based on the nature of favela growth, of decentralized growth in high redundancy, subjected to a continual evolution of forms. The system attempts a new way of mapping existing resources and physical conditions of the site while drawing the most productive connections between the houses.

The networked system seeks to spread infrastructure resources across the favela, generating a mesh with connective integrity by virtue of the system’s redundant nature. Growing from the inside out, strategic connections are made to network resources in efficiency of the specified parameters.

Spatial Information provided by São Paulo Municipality
All Houses in Grotão

Concept Sketches

Mapping Resources

Prototype Plans

System Section Diagram @ Favela Roof
This system basically extends the existing columns of the built favela houses, and inserts its own columns where needed, in between neighboring walls, which would form an expanding rigid network structure across the neighborhood. The upper level provides an urban farm while networking infrastructural services.

Visualization

Launch Catalog

preview images

Filmatic studies of urban conditions in New York City complemented the household studies and connections between the two were posited. In short videos, three distinct urban conditions of NYC were documented and calibrated by speed and direction of movement through the urban spaces. By studying the relationships between population density, spatial compression, movement, and the boundaries in which they function, we can reach understandings of what it means to feel confined or free.

Strategy for Wind-Harvesting Facade

Volumetric studies were tested by extruding the optimal site area and trimming the shape to optimize performance of light, wind, and views. The circle enclosed by the buildings (see plans) is a preserved park for which the light and views were optimized.
Wind : the volume is optimized for maximum wind channeling and harvest via surface geometry.
Views : The largest, most direct corridors aligned toward park and river spaces are optimized to preserve views for the existing buildings on site.
Light : The volume is adjusted for maximum southern light penetration, which augments toward the afternoon.

This section illustrates three spaces created by gaps in the aggregation of units, which were directly informed by the previous performative massing studies. Gaps designated as communal spaces occur at the intersections of optimal vectors light and view. Smaller gaps hold wind turbines, which collect wind at points determined by the fluid dynamics studies. The slight S curve of the overall section turns forward and backward across the building, changing the surface geometry to effectively funnel wind at specific points of concentration. This direct response to the shape of the surrounding context shapes the surface of the building while optimizing energy harvesting.

3dsmax animation by Zachary Aders and Katie Shima from katie shima on Vimeo.

“Perceiving Boundaries” by Zachary Aders and Katie Shima (short version) from katie shima on Vimeo.

Below is an installation of the Trusset, a space frame system developed by Phillip Anzalone and Cory Clark. Mark Collins and Toru Hasegawa developed a parametric space frame software, which formed the system of nodes, each having up to 8 connecting strut elements. Skin applications and details were developed by the design/assembly team, which I took a part.

Prototype for a plastic modular wall / screen system.